RWU, Arts in Common plan to convert vacant Walley School into arts center

ROGER WILLIAMS University and the nonprofit Arts in Common are pursuing a plan to renovate the long-vacant Walley School at the center of Bristol, for conversion to an arts and cultural hub. / COURTESY ROGER WILLIAMS UNIVERSITY
ROGER WILLIAMS University and the nonprofit Arts in Common are pursuing a plan to renovate the long-vacant Walley School at the center of Bristol, for conversion to an arts and cultural hub. / COURTESY ROGER WILLIAMS UNIVERSITY

BRISTOL – Roger Williams University and the nonprofit Arts in Common are pursuing a plan to renovate the long-vacant Walley School at the center of Bristol, for conversion to an arts and cultural hub.

The initial plan for the renovated space would include a public art gallery, shared office space for local cultural groups and headquarters for Arts in Common, according to a news release. The university, a partner in the project, also would become an anchor tenant.
Arts in Common, formed last year, is a collaboration of more than 100 local artists, businesses and community members, according to its website.

In January, the R.I. State Council on the Arts awarded a $50,000 grant to the nonprofit. Its executive director said the project, a collaboration between an artists’ collective and Roger Williams University, had the potential to make Bristol a destination for artists and the art-buying public.

The focus is the redevelopment of the Walley School, a former elementary school that was built in 1896 and decommissioned nearly 100 years later. In 2011, a business plan prepared by Roger Williams University students found the Walley School could be self-sustaining as an arts and cultural center, without municipal support, if it had the appropriate mix of classes, memberships, community support and events.

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The renovation cost at that time was estimated at $3 million.

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  1. Update: From our in-progress business plan update, the cost estimate to transform Walley is coming in under $1.5M to repurpose the entire building to support maker, education and exhibition spaces without the advanced stage/performance spaces proposed in the 2011 plan. Thank you for the great reporting — Craig Fisher, Arts In Common Co-Chair and Walley Transformation Team Leader.